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I tried a new recipe a while back. It turned out so ridiculously good that I wanted to post it for all of you right away but never found the time. But fear not, because time is something I now have – for a few minutes tonight while I write this post at least.

This recipe is for a roast. It can be any beef roast of any size. You’ll just have to change the timing a little bit, which I will get into in just a second.

If you’re like me then you love your beef pretty rare. Nothing quite hits the spot like a medium rare to rare prime rib, that’s for sure. Prime rib can often be expensive, so I went on a search to find a way to cook any roast and have it come out as delicious as our supreme cut.

After failing many, many times I stumbled upon a method that I found very odd but the directions said to “trust the science.” Me, being naïve, thought it’d be a great idea to trust the science. And I did. And I am so glad I did.

When you first read this you may think I am crazy, but I am telling you that it actually works. The picture I used for this post is my actual roast.

You want to first start by rubbing the roast down with all the spices you want. This time around I was pretty basic and simply used garlic, pepper, herbs, and a little bit of salt. Then use a sharp knife to cut several ½ inch slits all the way around.

Preheat the oven to as high as most ovens go, around 500 degrees Celsius. You will only want to cook the roast at this temperature for 7 minutes per pound of roast. My roast for the picture was only 2 pounds, so I had it cook at 500 degrees for 14 minutes.

Once the time is up at the optimal temperature you’ll need to shut the oven completely off. Yes, that’s right. Turn your oven dial all the way off and let the roast sit in there for 2 hours. Please, please, please do not open the oven door during this time. The more you open the door and let the heat out, the more you risk ruining your perfectly rare roast.

I didn’t believe this method would work the first time I read it, but I gave it a whirl and sure enough it did exactly what it promised.

Do you have any special “tricks” you like to use to make the perfect roast?

Ah yes, carbs – the bane of everyone’s nutritional confusion. Probably the most sought after answer in all of nutritional science, even. I can put money on the fact that if everyone was given one question to ask a nutritionist it would somehow involve carbohydrate consumption. How much is too much? How much is too little? Should I eat carbohydrates at all!?

The answer will generally, like everything in the field, depend on what your situation is. It’s impossible to give one universal answer to every single carbohydrate question ever asked.

Should you eat carbs? Of course you should. Carbohydrates are one of three macronutrients your body needs to function properly. How much you should eat, though, will mainly depend on your activity level.

Carbs are generally dense in calories, meaning it’s quite easy to rack up a total caloric count if you’re watching your intake. However, your body needs it for energy. Sounds like a catch-22 doesn’t it?

The basic idea to keep in mind is that the more active you are, the more energy you will need, and therefore more carbohydrates. If you eat a ton of carbs and lay around all day, your body starts to store the energy as fat. That’s when all the fun things develop like spare tires, and double chins.

You’ll hear a lot of nutritionists battling back and forth about eating carbs, and not eating carbs. It gets tricky when you start to know that your body can actually turn protein and fat into energy through physiological processes. That is why people don’t see a need for over consuming this “evil” macronutrient – which is fair.

So if you’re someone who doesn’t exercise a lot, or if you’re looking to lose fat, it may not hurt to reduce your carb consumption to produce. Vegetables are a great source of energy without tacking on too many calories.

Or, if you’re someone who is active pretty much every day, you may want to eat more breads, pastas, or other sources along with vegetables in order to keep your energy level up.

You can’t really say that carbohydrates are good or bad but just know that your body does need some in order to be healthy. It’s the type and amount that really matters. A healthy body is all about balance, so finding your balance between protein, fat, and carbohydrates is the ultimate key to mastering your nutrition.

Although radiation such as routine X-rays, injections of radioactive materials for imaging, and radiation used in cancer therapy is intended to help diagnose and treat illnesses and disease, it can also drain a patient’s body. To help offset some of the effects of radiation, a patient should maintain a nutritious and balanced diet.

Fatigue: When experiencing fatigue, you should eat foods that are high in carbohydrates to maintain energy and protein to maintain endurance, such as toast with peanut butter, bagels, rice, noodles, eggs and lean proteins like nuts.

Nausea and Upset Stomach: Ginger is known to soothe stomach pain. You can hold a slice of fresh ginger in your mouth while undergoing therapy and when you become nauseous, chew on it. You can also eat dry and bland foods such as toast or cereal without milk. To avoid nausea and vomiting, stay clear of spicy and acidic foods.

Diarrhea: Try to eat foods high in potassium such as bananas. Water, about eight to 10 glasses a day, can also help relieve diarrhea. Try to avoid greasy or processed fast food and dairy, because these foods can make diarrhea worse.

Other side effects of radiation treatment include mouth sores, loss of appetite, hair loss near the radiated site, skin irritation, anxiety and depression.

Regardless of the present side effects, any patient who elected to undergo radiation should keep their protein and calorie intake high, because a common side effect of radiation therapy is weight loss and patients need the extra calories to maintain a healthy weight. Without the proper amount of calorie intake, it will make it harder for the body to heal and fight infections.

Even if overall appetite decreases as a result of radiation therapy, nutrition is highly important. When you do eat, try eating foods high in fat, protein and carbohydrates. This will give your body the nutrients it needs to sustain radiation treatment.

Good nutrition helps your body withstand treatment. You should keep in mind that your diet is one area in which you do have control, but remember to ask your doctor or physician before changing your diet.

Author bio: Kaitlyn Teabo is a writer for The Mesothelioma Center. She combines her interests in writing, cancer research and emerging scientific technology to educate the mesothelioma community about asbestos and its related diseases.

For more information on the latest mesothelioma related stories, please check out our News Section.

Disclaimer

The So Healthy Nutrition website focuses on topics of nutrition, wellness, and physical fitness. Please keep in mind that the information provided is strictly informative and should not be favoured over the advice of a healthcare professional.
Furthermore, several topics discussed on this website are generalized and may not take into consideration personal medical conditions resulting in potentially unsafe information.